System Applications and Products (SAP) is a multinational software development company based in Germany. It is mainly known for its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software, which is designed to help small, medium, and large enterprises optimize their critical business systems and processes. In this article, you’ll learn about the pros and cons of SAP ERP systems.
On our site, we have additional articles covering topics such as using an ERP for the manufacturing industry, along with SAP Business ByDesign pricing info as a way to provide you with all the information necessary to make a purchasing decision.
SAP ERP systems help support and integrate virtually all functional areas of a company. These include production, procurement, supplies, warehousing, sales, finance, human resource, and accounting. Regardless of the industry, your business requires systems to be fully integrated in order to facilitate the free flow of information across the entire enterprise. This allows your business to connect its internal and external systems.
Through this system, you can achieve the automation of all your business processes, along with the integration of all systems and services, and a reliable flow of information across different applications. SAP ERP also helps with the automation of managerial, operational, and support functions.
Here are the main functions of an SAP ERP system.
Your organization will benefit immensely from these functions of the SAP ERP system. The ERP system also covers numerous functional areas of your business, including:
The following are the main benefits of integrating all your business systems and processes using an ERP system.
The SAP ERP system allows you to make critical decisions quickly using currently available information and reporting tools. Since the information about your daily operations is stored in one centralized database, you can easily access all aspects that will inform your decision.
With this system, you will have a centralized database allowing the free flow of information across all departments in your company. Allowing you to forgo to the need to repeatedly send critical information to various departments separately. This also minimizes the chances of distortion of the information because everyone has access to real-time data.
An ERP system allows you to track all transactions in your company from start to finish. This reduces the risk of financial errors and misappropriation because it provides accurate figures.
By automating and integrating all your systems and processes, an ERP system helps you save time and expenses.
It’s important to know that sometimes it is not easy to incorporate SAP ERP systems into an existing business procedures workflow because of the diverse nature of the business environment. Being so, there can be some initial hurdles to overcome when setting up an SAP ERP system for the first time.
The ERP system may not align with your current business processes or systems, requiring the re-engineering of your systems. This usually happens when you are using outdated systems in your company.
While it’s beneficial to integrate all your business systems and processes, the cost of integration can be significantly high. Therefore, you need to work with an experienced system engineer to help you find cost-effective ways to proceed with the integration.
Finally, your SAP ERP solutions should be developed and implemented according to your budget and business needs. The system should, in the end, help you run your business more efficiently.